Prosecutors don’t want him to do it, but Kevin J. Weeks, the former South Boston gangster who climbed the mob ladder of success to become one of James “Whitey” Bulger’s top lieutenants, will make a “special appearance” at Sunday night’s Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston Book Fair.
Weeks, 56, went from having the feds throw the book at him to becoming a best-selling author writing about his years outsmarting them in, “Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger’s Irish Mob.” His next star turn will be as a witness for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, when Bulger, 83, is tried next year for 19 murders.
“The government advised Mr. Weeks not to do the event and not to discuss anything related to the Bulger investigation or trial,” Christina Dilorio-Sterling, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, told the Herald.
Weeks and Boston University professor Phyllis Karas, who co-wrote “Brutal,” will be discussing their fictional collaboration, “Where’s Whitey?”
Karas noted yesterday that the book was released June 20, 2011, two days before the FBI captured Bulger and moll Catherine Greig in Santa Monica, Calif., after a 16-year manhunt.
JCC spokesman Larry Keller said the JCC “is aware” prosecutors advised Weeks not to appear. “The purpose of his visit is to talk about his book,” Keller said. “We’re going to keep it focused on that.”
No members have complained about Weeks being a speaker, Keller said.
“It’s somewhat controversial, it’s somewhat newsworthy,” Keller conceded, “but it’s a Jewish author (Karas), and it’s a noteworthy book. It’s their thoughts on what Whitey might have been doing during his 16 years on the lam.”
Weeks pleaded guilty in 2000 to racketeering and extortion charges and was sentenced to six years. He also admitted to assisting Bulger with five murders.